Aid for turning bedridden persons

ABSTRACT

Considerable force and tiring work by about five orderlies/nurses is required to turn surgery patients, who are often anaesthetised or have reduced mobility. The turning also requires disconnecting measuring and monitoring equipment connected to the patient, which takes much time. An aid for turning persons lying on a bed, particularly an operating table, solves the above problems. The aid includes a rotatable roller oriented in parallel with and capable of being suspended at a long side of a bed, where the rotational axis of the roller is capable of being elevated above the resting surface of the bed as the ends of the roller are suspended at free ends of upright brackets releasably attached at the long side of the bed. hereby, one orderly/nurse is made redundant, and furthermore it will not be necessary during the turning to disconnect and reconnect possible apparatuses connected to the patient.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns an aid for turning persons lying on abed. Such an aid can find application in many different places, butparticularly within the health sector such an aid may be very relevant.The aid will particularly find application on an operation table or abed on which persons lying in preferably horizontal position are to beturned.

In connection with surgery, it will often be necessary to performturning of the patient while he is anaesthetised. E.g. by surgery of theback, the patient is anaesthetised after which the patient is turned tolie flat on the stomach. By large back surgery where access to the backtypically occurs via the stomach region, the patient is returned tosupine position. Other operations occur by the patient being laid inlateral position after anaesthetisation has been performed, and alsohere there is need for complete or partial turning of the anaesthetisedpatient.

Doing the work of turning patients, they being anaesthetised patients orpatients that are disabled for different reasons, is a very strainingwork for orderlies or nursing staff who are to do this, as the turningof the person implies lifting in a definitely inconvenient workposition, and ailments of the back due to many years of working asorderly or nurse are also well-known.

Of course, many different lifting techniques and bed making methods havecaused that these procedures are done in a more suitable way for thestaff performing it. However, this still leaves the problem withperforming pull and lift of heavy burdens in inconvenient workpositions. Particularly the work of turning anaesthetised patients onoperation tables is a very heavy and demanding work, as theanaesthetised person is not at all capable of assisting in the turning.The manual work in that connection for turning just one person requiresthe effort of eight persons, where all provide a not insignificanteffort for performing the turning. In that connection is to be notedthat the anaesthetised patient is not just to be turned, butsimultaneously with the turning, the patient is to be controlled so thathe is not suffering any harm during the turning. By making turnings, itis often necessary to disconnect different monitoring equipment etc.that has been connected to the patient, which sometimes can imply acertain safety hazard for the patient.

Also in connection with usual care of bedridden persons, includingparticularly elderly people, turning of the patient also make demands onphysical ability on the part of the nursing staff. E.g. by washing theperson it is necessary to turn the bedridden person in the bed, as wellas in connection with a lot of other tasks it is necessary to attend tothe person from several sides. This typically implies that the caretakerhas to get hold of the bedridden person physically and to push/pull/rollthe person from one side to the other. This work implies many drawbacksfor the bedridden person and for the nursing staff. Bedridden personsrequiring care are physically weak, either due to sickness or as aconsequence of old age, or a combination of these two factors.Therefore, it will be a physical strain for these persons to bemanipulated/turned by the nursing staff who in that connection have toget hold of and pull in the person physically for turning him.

Concurrently with the rising number of bedridden elderly people and cutsin the nursing area and the hospital area, there will be fewer nursesand orderlies to take care of more patients/elderly people. A large partof these patients and elderly are bedridden for shorter or longerperiods, making special demands on the nursing staff. At the same time,for reducing the work environmental load of orderlies/nursing staff withregard to the backs and shoulders of the latter, it will be necessarythat more orderlies/nurses etc. than used hitherto are cooperating forturning a bedridden person or an anaesthetised person on an operatingtable. Hence, there are oppositely directed developments that seemalmost incompatible.

Thus there is need for a solution that may be a help for orderlies whohave to perform the very heavy and straining work in connection withturning anaesthetised patients on an operation table or in connectionwith turning bedridden patients. The present invention provides for thisneed with an aid for use in turning lying persons on a bed, e.g. anoperating table, and the aid is peculiar in including a rotatable rolleroriented in parallel with and capable of being suspended at a long sideof a bed or the underframe of the bed, where the rotational axis of theroller is capable of being elevated above the resting surface of thebed, as the ends of the roller are suspended at free ends of, uprightbrackets releasably attached at the long side of the bed.

The aid enables that a sheet or a sterile underlay laid upon a bed maybe attached to the roller at one edge side of the sheet being rolled uparound the roller by rotation of the same, whereby the sheet is fastenedto the roller by simple rolling up on the surface of the roller. Bycontinued rolling up of the sheet by rotation of the roller about itsrotational axis, a person lying of the sheet or the sterile underlayfastened to the roller will be forced to rolling and thereby be turned.The disposition of the roller above the resting surface of the bedimplies that by rotation of the roller at one time is exerted a lateraland obliquely upwards directed pull in the sheet, implying that theperson to be turned, lying on the sheet, is pulled towards the aid, andthe person will be forced to a rolling movement, the closer the point ofcontact between person, sheet and bed approaches the roller, as well asthe inclination of the sheet or underlay will become steeper, eventuallycausing rolling of the person. The advantage is hence that personsassisting in turning the patient, and who previously by performing thiswork were to exert the pull in the side of the sheet, partly with alateral pull and partly an obliquely upwards directed pullsimultaneously with the patient was to be supported during the rolling,now can concentrate completely on supporting the patient during therolling, as the forceful work itself is now taken over by the aidaccording to the invention.

The aid may at its free ends be suspended on the free ends of theupright brackets by means of slide bushings, and the aid mayadvantageously include at one end an electric gearmotor which with aspecial fitting is fastened to the free end of one of the bracketsstanding up at the long side of the bed. The electric gearmotornaturally facilitates turning the patient for the staff performing theturning, but in that connection it is to be mentioned that the aidaccording to the invention in a more simple version may be provided witha crank handle that also may find application at places where the accessto electricity is limited or even non-existing. This condition will,however, imply that a person is to perform the turning of the roller,but all taken together the work with turning the patient will besignificantly eased as the other staff may entirely concentrate onsupporting and helping the patient during the turning.

The space around an operating table or a sickbed during turning a lyingperson, is normally very restricted, as several orderlies and nursesassisting with the turning are disposed around the bed.

With the purpose of minimising the space consumption of the aid in thiswork intensive area, electric gearmotors may be of the kind providedinside the cavity of the roller so that the drive shaft of the gearmotoris connected with the roller by a carrier bolt inserted through a holein the wall of the roller. Hereby, the gearmotor itself will in no waytake up any of the already scarce space around the operating table, andthus be interfering with the persons standing around the bed inconnection with turning the patient lying on it.

With regard to perform control of the operation of the aid, to beprecise the operation of the gearmotor, from the most advantageousposition during turning of the patient, the electric motor of thegearmotor may be connected with a control unit for activating anddeactivating of the gearmotor, the control unit also including ahandheld operating panel of known type connected thereto via a suitablecommunication interface (often constituted by a cable connection withspiral coilings). Hereby is achieved a high degree of flexibility andmobility for the person controlling the aid during turning the person onthe operating table.

The electric motor of the gearmotor may advantageously be constituted bya stepmotor, whereby return run of the roller when the motor is notactivated is counteracted.

As already indicated, the aid may be disposed on a long side of a bed orits underframe so that the roller is oriented in parallel with the bed.In that connection it is to be mentioned that a real permanent mountingof the aid at/on the bedside or on its underframe is inexpedient.Therefore, it is preferred that the aid is adapted so that there isprovided possibility of rapid and efficient releasable attachment to thesaid side of the bed or its underframe in connection with using the aid.The brackets of the aid may thus advantageously be constituted byangular fittings having legs with holding means disposed opposite to thefree ends for releasable attaching of brackets and thereby the aid atthe long side of a bed or its underframe, where the holder means areadapted and interacting with the long side of the bed or its underframeso that the brackets and the roller are capable of absorbing forcesoriented transversely and obliquely upwards relative to the restingsurface of the bed. In that connection may be noted that the aid mayadvantageously include interacting sliding guideways for mounting at thebed side. Hereby may be achieved the advantage that the holding means ofthe aid only need to be designed as to interact with the said slidingguideway, so we are speaking of a kind of standardisation of thefastening between the holding means of the aid and the bed at which theaid is to be applied.

The said standardisation may furthermore have the advantage that it maybe ensured that the holding means and the sliding guideways areinteracting so that the free ends of the brackets on which the roller issuspended are pivotable within an acute angle in relation to thevertical. The pivoting of the aid from the acute angle and untilvertical will typically take place at the moment in which the patient isdrawn out from one side of the bed, and where the rolling of the patienthas been initiated, where there is need for an almost vertical pull inthe sheet for ensuring rolling of the patient.

With the object of ensuring a fast, but efficient attachment betweenunderlay/sheet and the aid according to the invention, the surface ofthe roller may be provided with one half of a self-adhesive Velcro® tapefor releasable attachment of a side edge of a sheet or cloth laid on thebed, where the said side edge of the sheet or the cloth includesfastening means interacting with the Velcro® tape, e.g. in the form of aribbon that has been sewn on. Hereby is achieved the advantage that theedge of the underlay may be fastened effectively to the roller with aneasy move, after which the turning of the patient can be commenced byactivating electric gearmotors during the rolling up of the underlayonto the roller.

It is to be mentioned that the apparatus of course can be used at bothsides of the bed, if only the sliding guideways needed for the holdingmeans have been mounted at the bed sides.

With the purpose of utilising the aid according to the invention mostefficiently, and to even make superfluous mounting of the said slidingguideways at the side edges of the bed, the aid according to theinvention may be mounted in portable form on a trolley that include acarrier rail for releasable fastening of the aid. Hereby is achieved theadvantage that the aid may be transported between different beds onwhich it is operated by persons with the need for being turned. Thus itwill be easy to move the aid from the trolley and onto a slidingguideway mounted on the bed, after which the turning of the person isperformed, and subsequently the aid is replaced on the carrier rail ofthe trolley for transport to a new task.

In that connection, the trolley may furthermore include the controlunit, e.g. as the handheld operating panel connected therewith, and incase that the aid is to be used at localities where there is no suitedpower source for connection to and operation of the gearmotor, thetrolley may also include a rechargeable power supply.

In case that the aid is to be used for turning persons on beds that donot include sliding guideways, the trolley may be utilised in the sameway as if it was mounted on the bed or its underframe, as the trolley isdisposed in such a way at the side of the bed with undercarriage of thetrolley in contact with the side edge of the bed, and where the underlayis attached to the roller as previously described, after which theroller is activated by means of the operating panel, and the turning ofthe patient is done in the same way as previously described.

However, in that connection it is to be mentioned that the trolley byits presence at the bedside takes up some of the scarce space at theside of an operating table to the inconvenience of the persons that areto help and support the patient during the turning.

However, as the use of the aid during the accomplishment of the turningimplies that the number of orderlies/nurses assisting in turning thepatient on the operation table is reduced, in that way is compensatedfor the space occupied by the trolley.

With the purpose of using the aid when this is placed on the trolley inconnection with turning persons disposed on tables at different levels,the trolley may be adapted so that the height of the carrier rail isadjustable. This may possibly be realised by the adapting the trolleylegs so that they are adjustable in height.

In other embodiments of the invention, the aid may be envisaged as beingmounted permanently on the table, so that this is collapsible to passiveposition when not in use, so that the aid is not interfering with theaccess to the bed from the sides.

By the aid according to the invention there is thus provided a solutionfor a work environmental problem for the orderlies/nurses that usuallyperform turning of lying patients on operating table and other beds, asthe more forceful part of the work with turning a patient is performedby the aid, whereby the number of persons engaged with turning a patientmay be reduced by one orderly/nurse. Furthermore, an additionaladvantage is achieved that since the persons assisting in turning thepatient may more concentrate in supporting and helping the patientduring the turning procedure instead of exerting lift and pull atinconvenient work positions, and thus by using the aid there may beperformed turning of a patient without any instruments etc. connected tothe patient having to be disconnected during the turning, withconsequent greater safety for the patient and savings in time used byorderlies and nursing staff in connection with connecting anddisconnecting. In all, not a small additional advantage by the aidaccording to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The invention is explained subsequently with reference to the drawing,where:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an aid according to the invention forturning lying persons,

FIG. 2 shows the same as FIG. 1, but where the aid is assembled andmounted at a bedside,

FIG. 3 shows a control unit with associated power supply and operatingpanel and suspension therefor in separated form, and

FIG. 4 shows the elements indicated in FIG. 3 in assembled condition.

FIG. 1 shows an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of an aid 2according to the invention for turning persons lying on a bed 6, cf.FIG. 2. Below is referred to FIG. 1 as well as to FIG. 2.

The aid 2 includes a roller 8 with a first end 14 and a second end 16,the roller 8 being journalled at the second end 16 by means of an axlepin and slide bushings 26 to the free end 20 of a bracket 24 constitutedby an angular fitting, where at the angular leg 50 there is providedholding means 52 for fastening to the long side 4 of a bed 6.

The front end 14 includes a cavity 32 in which is accommodated agearmotor 28 having its drive shaft 34 connected to the roller 8 with acarrier bolt 36 which is received in a hole 38 in the wall 40 of roller.The gearmotor 28, in the mounted position, cf. FIG. 2, is bluntlyprojecting from the roller end 14 and fastened in a holder fitting 30mounted in the free end 18 of a bracket 22 that is constituted by anangular fitting, the angular legs 48 of which include holding means 52at their free ends for securing the bracket 22.

The gearmotor 28, which is supposed to be used in the shown embodiment,includes a cable connection 29 with a plug 31 for connecting to acontrol unit 42, cf. FIGS. 3 and 4, which in the shown embodimentinclude a power supply, possibly in the shape of a rechargeable battery,and to which control unit 42 there is connected an operating panel 46via a wire connection 44, which has be made with spiral coilings 45 forproviding the user with the greatest possible flexibility and mobilityand freedom in movement in connection with operating the aid 2. Thecontrol unit of the gearmotor 28 may be adapted so that two gearmotorscontrolled from the operating panel 46 via the wire 44 may be connectedthereto. The control unit 42 for the gearmotor 28 is provided with asuspension 58, and the operating panel 46 also includes a suspensionhook 47 at the rear side. The wire 44 includes, as shown in FIGS. 3 and4, two spirally coiled lengths 45 providing that the wire 44 is kept offfloors as well as simultaneously providing a considerable flexibilityregarding the position of the user of the operating panel in relation tothe control unit 42. The wire 44 may in another embodiment be spirallycoiled over its entire length.

In the shown embodiment, a section with Velcro® tape 56 has been bondedto the outer side of the roller 8.

In FIG. 2, the aid 2 is shown mounted on a sliding guideway 64 with theroller 8 oriented in parallel with the long side 4 of a bed/operatingtable. As it appears, a sheet 60 is laid upon the resting face 12 of thebed 6, where the side edge 63 of the sheet is provided with a Velcro®ribbon 62 interacting with the self-adhering Velcro-tape 56 on theroller 8. As it further appears, the sheet 60 is releasably fastened atthe Velcro® ribbon 62 to the surface of the roller 8, and the aid 2 isthus made ready for turning a person (not shown) lying on the sheet byactivating the gearmotor 28 at the operating panel 46.

By activating the gearmotor 28, the sheet 60 is rolled up around theroller 8, causing the person lying on the sheet 60 to be pulled closerto the axis of rotation 10 of the roller, whereby the sheet 60 under theperson will be subjected to an obliquely upward pull transverse of thebed 6, causing the person to be subjected to a rolling movement whichstrongly contributes to facilitating the work with turning the person,as the staff assisting by the turning procedure is only to ensure thatthe person is supported and assisted in the turning.

By the aid 2 according to the invention there is provided a particularlyefficient and very usable tool for use in turning patients lying onoperating tables and the like, and where the aid, if distributed tohospitals, old people's homes, and in the health sector in general, willdecidedly have a preventive action on the number of registered ailmentsof the back of orderlies and nursing staff. The inventor has, of course,realised that the aid according to the invention may assume other formsthan those specified in the drawing and as described above.

E.g. the aid 2, the roller 8 including control unit 42, operating panel46 and wire 44 between control unit and operating panel, and possibly apower source 54 for the gearmotor 28 may be arranged on a separate unitthat include wheels for transporting the unit and actuators for levelcontrol of the roller 8. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the aid may beadapted so that the brackets 22, 24 are arranged for mutual uniformlongitudinal telescopic adjustment. This embodiment provides that theaid may be be disposed at a long side of an operating table without thebrackets being fastened directly to the long side or the underframe ofthe operating table, but may only remain on the separate wheel-borneunit, the undercarriage of which is brought into contact with the longside of the operating table, which will be sufficient for stabilisingthe aid/roller, so that the pull in the sheet may be performed in thesame way as described above in connection with turning a patient lyingon the operating table.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

-   2: aid-   4: long side-   6: bed or table-   8: roller-   10: rotational axis for 8-   12: resting face of bed 6-   14: first end of roller 8-   16: second end of roller 8-   18: free end of bracket 22-   20: free end of bracket 24-   22: bracket-   24: bracket-   26: slide bushings-   28: gearmotor-   29: electric connection for gearmotor 28-   30: fitting for gearmotor 28-   31: plug on electric connection 29-   32: cavity in roller 8-   34: drive shaft for gearmotor-   36: carrier bolt-   38: hole in roller wall-   40: roller wall-   42: control unit for gearmotor 28-   44: wire between control unit 40 and operating panel 46-   45: spiral coiling on wire 44-   46: operating panel-   47: suspension panel on operating panel 46-   48: bracket leg 22-   50: bracket leg 24-   52: holding means for fastening brackets 22, 24-   54: power source (possibly rechargeable battery)-   56: self-adhesive Velcro-tape on surface of roller 8-   58: suspension for control unit 42 and power source 54-   60: sheet-   62: Velcro® tape at side edge 63 of sheet-   63: side edge of sheet-   64: sliding guideway

1. Aid (2) for turning persons lying on a bed (6), particularly personslying on an operation table (6), characterised in that the aid includesa rotatable roller (8) oriented in parallel with and capable of beingsuspended at a long side (4) of a bed (6) or the underframe of the bed(6), where the rotational axis (10) of the roller (8) is capable ofbeing elevated above the resting surface (12) of the bed (6), as theends (14, 16) of the roller (8) are suspended at free ends (18, 20) of,upright brackets (22, 24) releasably attached at the long side (4) ofthe bed.
 2. Aid according to claim 1, characterised in that an electricgearmotor (28) is provided at least at one end (14) of the roller (8)for rotation of the roller around its rotational axis (10), and that themotor (28) is fastened to the free end (18) of the bracket (22) with afitting (30).
 3. Aid according to claim 1, characterised in that thegearmotor (28) is disposed inside a cavity (32) in the roller (8), sothat the drive shaft (34) of the gearmotor is connected with the roller(8) by a carrier bolt (36) inserted through a hole (38) in the wall (40)of the roller.
 4. Aid according to claim 1, characterised in that theelectric motor is connected to a control unit (42) associated with theaid for activating and deactivating the gearmotor (28), the control unit(42) also including a handheld operating panel (44) connected theretovia a communication interface (34).
 5. Aid according to claim 1,characterised in that the electric motor of the gearmotor is constitutedby a step motor.
 6. Aid according to claim 1, characterised in that thebrackets (22, 24) are constituted by angular fittings having legs (46,48) with holding means (50) disposed opposite to the free ends (18, 20)for releasable attaching of brackets (22, 24) and thereby the aid (2) atthe long side (4) of a bed (6) or its underframe, in that the holdermeans (50) are adapted and interacting with the long side (4) of the bed(6) or its underframe so that the brackets (22, 24) and the roller (8)are capable of absorbing forces oriented transversely and obliquelyupwards relative to the resting surface (12) of the bed.
 7. Aidaccording to claim 6, characterised in that the holder means (50) areadapted and interacting with the long side (4) of a bed (6) or itsunderframe so that the free ends (18, 20) of the brackets (22, 24) arepivoting within an acute angle (V) in relation to vertical.
 8. Aidaccording to claim 1, characterised in that the roller surface has beenprovided with means for securing a sheet, and that the means may includea rubber coating on the surface of the roller, Velcro@, or othercommonly known mechanical fastening.
 9. Aid according to claim 1,characterised in that the roller (8) with associated brackets (22, 24),control unit (42), operating panel (46), wire between control unit (42)and operating panel (46), and possibly a power source (54), are arrangedon a separate unit that include wheels for transporting the unit,actuators for level control of the roller (8), and that the brackets(22, 24) are arranged for mutual uniform longitudinal telescopicadjustment.
 10. Bed (6) including sliding guideways interacting withholding means (50), where an aid (2) according to claim 1 is mounted ona long side (4) of the bed (6) or its underframe, and where on thesurface of the bed there is laid a sheet, one side of which beingfastened to the roller (8) by rolling up around it, and where the sheetis displaceable in the transverse direction of the bed by activation ofthe gearmotor (28) so that the sheet is rolled up on the roller (8). 11.Bed (6) arranged with an aid (2) according to claim 9 at the side of thebed, and where on the surface of the bed there is laid a sheet havingone side fastened to the roller (8) by rolling up around it, and wherethe sheet is displaceable in the transverse direction of the bed byactivating the gearmotor (28) so that the sheet is rolled up on theroller (8).